“Sometimes you’ll be walking this part of the stage here and POP – you’ll hear the electrical system popping.”

Traverse City Central High School Choir Director Tamara Grove points to a spot near the front of the stage in the school’s 571-seat auditorium. She and Principal Rick Vandermolen are walking through the venue with The Ticker, running down a list of safety and technical issues in the theater.

“The electrical system has degraded to the point it’s no longer safe for students to use,” says Vandermolen, pointing to a 1950s control panel backstage. “The lighting is primitive and bare-bones. The seats are uncomfortable.” He gestures toward the audience, where several chairs with duck tape and broken backs are visible. Audio and tech equipment has deteriorated to the point where mics routinely drop out during student performances, as happened to the lead in last fall’s production of The Music Man. “Nothing's dependable. It’s a guessing game what’s going to work on any given day,” Grove says.

Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) officials originally hoped to replace the aging auditorium with a brand-new performing arts center, one that would help meet the ballooning capacity and programming demands of the district and increase revenue through community rentals (the Traverse City Film Festival expressed interest in using the venue at one point).

But after two back-to-back proposals requesting bond funding for the project were soundly defeated at the polls – one for $18 million in 2012, the other for $12.9 million in 2013 – the board is now prepping plan B: spending $2.5 million this summer to keep the facility in safe enough condition to remain open.

At a TCAPS finance committee meeting Wednesday, Interim Superintendent Paul Soma described the plan as one that ultimately “still won’t meet the needs of staff and students…but will make (the auditorium) safer and more functional.” Among the major anticipated repairs are replacing the facility’s electrical system, sound, lighting, orchestra pit and seats. The project is expected to go to the school board for approval this month, with construction set for this summer.

John Dancer of Cornerstone Architects backed the need for auditorium renovations, warning officials Wednesday that the facility's systems are “dangerous and cobbled-together.” He described water damage in the venue’s underground utility tunnels and holes in the ceiling where outside light and noise from airplanes and birds are leaking through. “The only thing that actually works correctly is the stage scrim, which was replaced two years,” he said.

But even with Cornerstone's report, TCAPS board members are bracing for potential public backlash on spending $2.5 million on the project. “I’m sure there will still be criticism, because we’re spending more than $100,000,” said board member Megan Crandall. “But these are basic safety improvements…it’s something we have to do. There isn’t a choice.”

“Nobody likes this,” agreed Soma, “but we’re getting to the point where we’re going to have to shut down the facility for safety and security issues. We have to provide some semblance of an upgrade."

Central High School officials say they're grateful for any repairs that might occur at the venue, though they still hope a future bond proposal could allocate more dollars beyond a “band-aid” fix to the auditorium. Vandermolen says Central has lost “several” students to West and Interlochen because of superior theater amenities at those schools, and expresses frustration at sitting in the audience during student productions when technical issues have masked “the quality of the students’ talent.”

Grove agrees. "This is our classroom," she says. “This plan won't be enough for the long-term...but we'll gladly accept any kind of improvement.”